Tell Me
by Peanut Princess
Summary: One-Shot. "They are so beautiful! What do you think that one shapes like?" Eiji had pointed at a random cloud at the late afternoon sky, all the while observing her reaction. But to his disappointment, she had only smiled and didn't reply. :EijiOC:


**Note:** This fanfic is inspired by the OPM (Original Pinoy Music) song _Sabihin _(Tell Me), by Zelle. If you're feeling betrayed that someone left you, and is damn depressed about it, this is the song that would best reflect you. But it's in Tagalog, so not everyone would be able to relate. (shrugs) Oh well.

**Warning(s):** Be awed by the cliché-ness of it all! And this is my first one-shot. _May the heavens bless me._

* * *

**Tell Me**_  
By: lawli-chan_

* * *

-

_Naririnig mo ba ako?_  
( Can you hear me? )

-

Eiji walked towards home, feeling proud of himself for acing gym class that day. Gym class was the only period that the eleven-year-old redhead enjoyed besides recess, and was also about the only subject he ever excelled at. Many of his classmates had nicknamed him _Neko_, since he moved about with the agility and flexibility of a cat, and – though he was too modest to admit it – it was something that Eiji found worthy to be proud of; after all, it was not everyday that one would find somebody as talented as him when it came to that field.

That, in addition with his funny and bubbly personality, made Eiji one of the most wanted people in his school. Everyone knew who he was, where he lived, and what his favorite ice cream flavor was. This was doing a great favor for Eiji, for he was the youngest of five children, making it hard to be noticed beyond the shadows of his siblings. Being a popular figure in school made Eiji actually _somebody_, which was what he wanted in the first place. If there was anything he feared most, it was rejection (but that was his inner-most secret, aside from the unknown fact that he still peed on his bed at age seven). Eiji didn't want to be a _nobody _– much more than how others didn't want to – and would do anything to prevent such thing to happen.

Well, that certainly isn't happening now, Eiji thought cheerfully, as he turned a corner and began passing by the playgrounds. He had his friends, therefore he wasn't a social reject. He wasn't a social reject, therefore he wasn't a nobody. Eiji was by then a happy and contented sixth grader that could only anticipate watermelons for desserts at dinner.

But the sad fact was, not all sixth graders were happy and contented like Eiji.

"_Eh, what are you saying?"_

Eiji's thoughts about watermelons were interrupted by a loud voice coming from the playgrounds. Turning to the source curiously, Eiji's cerulean eyes widened at the scene unfolding.

"_I can't hear ya!"_

-

_  
Sigaw ko ba'y walang tinig?_  
( Are my shouts soundless? )

-

Eiji froze on his spot, his eyes glued to the three or so boys around his age cornering another kid, who sat still on one of the swings, head bowed so lowly that his hazel hair completely covered his face from Eiji's sight.

"_Is she mute?" _one of the tall, brawny boys said in mock curiosity.

"_Or is she dumb?" _another one supplied, and they all guffawed at their idea of a joke.

Eiji didn't know that the one in the swing was a girl. But what concerned him at the very moment, however, was not the bully victim's gender orientation. It was her _silence._

-

_  
Nakaya kong walang imik_  
( I bear it without noise )

-

"_Hello? _Moshi-moshi?" Another thug pushed the girl roughly in the shoulder. She didn't say anything and continued looking down on the ground.

"_Aw, she's so boring!"_

"_Can't she say anything?"_

Finally, they considered the girl's unresponsiveness too boring to their liking.

"_Come on boys, we're wasting time here. . .hey, you!" _the supposed leader of the bully gang (or as how Eiji dubbed them in his mind) directed at the still silent girl. "_Learn to speak until we meet again, okay?"_

They erupted in another fit of laughter, before lumbering away noisily, probably feeling accomplished for successfully bullying a girl. Eiji still stood quietly in the sidewalk, glaring at the bullies until they went out of his line of vision, then turned back his attention to the girl in the swing, who had not moved an inch from her original position at all, clutching at the chains as if they were some sort of lifeline.

Heaving a deep sigh, Eiji unconsciously adjusted his grip on his backpack and took wide strides towards her.

"_Ne, why are you so quiet?"_

_­_-

_  
Naririnig naman ako_  
( But I could have been heard )

-

She must not have heard him, was the first thought that came to Eiji, as he stopped directly before the girl, looking down at her bowed head confusedly. Even he was starting to think that the bullies' accusations were true: maybe she was, perhaps, deaf?

"_Hey, I know you can hear me!" _he tried again, sounding extra-cheerful to encourage her into talking. _"Don't worry, I'm not like those boys. I will never bully you, nya!"_

Still no reply.

Eiji scratched his head in deep thought. "_Hmm. . ." _An idea struck him. "_Ah! Wait here!" _With that, he ran away, leaving the girl still staring at the ground pointedly.

It was after more than five minutes that Eiji returned. Panting slightly, he said, "_Here, nya! It's something to make you feel good!" _He reached out his right hand.

The girl still did not reply. Eiji determinedly kept his hand outstretched, willing to wait for her.

Finally, after what seemed like ten minutes, she looked up.

Her eyes were revealed to be dark green, and Eiji, for a moment, felt lost in them. They were deep, almost bottomless, but there was something in there that was not common, that Eiji had never seen in others' eyes. . .

. . _they look empty, _he realized.

Her green eyes moved and rested on Eiji's outstretched hand.

And then, the most unexpected thing happened.

The dark green eyes crinkled, and fat tears began to form at the edges. Eiji, who realized she was on the verge of tears, was speechless for a moment, before he started explaining to her. "_A-Ah. . .sorry if you don't like it! Here, I'll just throw it away -_" he started, but paused, however, when he thought he saw her mouth open and form words he failed to catch.

"_D-Did you say something. . .?" _he said hesitantly.

"_Ice cream. . ." _the girl muttered again, eyes never leaving Eiji's hand, which held a chocolate ice cream cone with a cherry on top. "_Ice cream. . ."_

Her shoulders shook, and she began to cry.

-

_Iiyak na lang. . ._  
( Will just cry. . . )

-

-

Ever since then, Eiji always met with the girl in the playground, as soon as he left school. Eiji didn't know why he felt obligated to see her – maybe there was an unwritten rule somewhere that you couldn't leave her alone anymore once you talk to her? At first, he only stayed long enough to see if she wasn't being bullied or crying or anything of that sort, but then soon enough found himself responsible as well for helping her overcome her supposed "speech impediment;" for regardless the somewhat formed friendship between them, the girl still refused to speak to him. The only word that Eiji heard from her so far was "ice cream," which was what she had said in their first encounter, and that doesn't really count that much of a word helpful for decent conversations. Eiji then thought that if there was anything he could for this new _tomodachi, _the least of it was to make her speak.

"_Hoi," _he had said once, in an attempt to bait her into speaking, "_the clouds are so beautiful! What do you think that one shapes like?" _He had pointed at a random cloud at the late afternoon sky, all the while observing her reaction as her dark green eyes followed his index finger.

But to Eiji's disappointment, she had only smiled and did not reply.

The rest of their short meetings were spent with Eiji staging a one-sided conversation, while she only smiled at his jokes, or, in some occasions, either nodded or shook her head in response to his questions. Eiji was beginning to think that it was hopeless to make her talk, and that was saying something, for Eiji was one persistent boy.

"_You don't speak at all, do you?" _he had said, three weeks after their first encounter, frowning slightly.

She had stared at him, her dark green eyes boring into Eiji's blue ones.

"_Well, you should!" _Eiji huffed, slightly taken aback at the intensity of her gaze. _"How can I know what you're thinking? As my _tomodachi, _I should know what you think, and you should know what I think, too! Because I'm your _tomodachi!"

She just stared, then smiled again.

"_Don't just smile!" _Eiji continued, exasperatedly. "_Aren't you sad, because you're not talking to anyone?"_

But she had only smiled at that time. . .even if it never reached her eyes. Because Eiji was too focused on his personal mission, he had failed to notice the glimmer of sadness in her eyes.

-

_Sabihin mo na kung babalik ka pa_  
( Tell me if you're still coming back )

-

"_Heh, what's this?"_ Eiji scratched his head on his fourth week of meeting her in the playgrounds, blinking blankly at the girl's outstretched hand. She was holding a folded piece of stationery. _"For me?"_

She nodded, then pushed the paper into his hand. Eiji made to unfold it, but she held his hand to stop him.

It was the first time that she held his hand, Eiji realized, and he was shocked to find hers really cold, despite the relatively warm weather. He looked at her in confusion.

She shook her head slowly, then looked straight back into his eyes.

Her eyes had spoken volumes, though Eiji failed to understand what they were saying. It seemed a jumble of emotions, ranging from sadness to determination, and Eiji wasn't good at all in reading people's minds. Nevertheless, he tried his best to interpret what her dark green eyes told him. How could he be considered her friend if he couldn't even understand her?

Then, to his surprise, the girl bowed at him briefly, before starting to walk away from him. She had never left before Eiji did – it had been always the other way around. So why was she leaving earlier?

Suddenly, something sprang inside Eiji, and his eyes widened in realization. Her act must have only meant one thing. . .

"_H-Hey!" _he shouted, and was surprised despite himself that his voice sounded anxious.

She stopped in her tracks, but she did not turn around.

"_Is this. . ." _A lump seem to form in Eiji's throat. "_. . .are you leaving?_" It must have sounded stupid, since it was obvious that she was, in the common sense of the word. But Eiji meant more than just leaving. . .

He meant leaving, in the sense of someone walking _out_ of his life.

The girl still did not speak, but she didn't move from where she stood.

"_Ne, answer me!"_

And, as if putting two and two together, Eiji looked down at the folded paper she had given him. Comprehension dawned on him.

_It was a letter, _he thought, slowly unfolding the stationery, as if it would tear apart if he had been any more forceful. _A letter telling me what she wanted to._

He straightened the paper, and stared, blankly, at the one, clear sentence written across the surface:

_Thank you, tomodachi._

Eiji frowned. "_What do you mean?" _he asked, looking up to where she had been standing.

But, to his surprise, she was already gone.

-

_Para 'di na maghintay_  
( So that I won't wait anymore )

-

When Eiji came back to the playgrounds the next day, he was disappointed to find nobody there. He had waited until dusk, whiling his time away riding the swing she used to occupy every afternoon, but no girl with dark green eyes showed up. Frowning, he produced the stationery she gave him from his pocket, staring hard at the neat handwriting that spelt 'Thank you, _tomodachi_,' as if it alone would show him where she was. She must be living somewhere nearby, if she always had time hanging out in the playgrounds, he thought. Perhaps, Eiji could look for her house and check if she's okay. . .?

_That's it! _Eiji thought, congratulating himself for such a brilliant plan. Maybe the shopkeepers around that area would be familiar with the girl – after all, dark green eyes were not common, (or at least, Eiji thought so, since she was the very fist person he had met that had such eyes) so it would be much easier to describe her appearance.

His new hopes up, Eiji hopped to his feet and started his little search, expecting directions to her house before dinnertime.

-

-

"_Eh. . .a girl with dark green eyes? I haven't seen anyone like that around here, kid."_

Eiji pouted slighty, before lightly thanking the man behind the counter and exiting the bakery, heaving a small sigh in the process. It had been three days since he began his quest to find the girl, but he still yielded zero results. Nobody claimed to have ever seen a girl fitting his description, the closest answer he got so far being, "_Well, my aunt has dark green eyes. She's 71, by the way."_ Eiji scrunched his face in frustration as he looked around him for people who might know who the girl is.

"_Nya. . .it's already five-thirty. . ." _he noted as he bypassed a shop with a digital clock display on the windows. _"I need to be home in thirty minutes. One last search." _Eiji walked on, trying hard to ignore his grumbling stomach. Why was he even trying so hard to find her? He had known her only for a month, yet, he felt as if they had known each other since a long time ago. He dimly wondered if she went to the same school as him, but dismissed the speculation easily; if she did, he _would _know. Heck, Eiji knew _everyone _in school.

Aware that time was fast running out, Eiji fastened his pace, his sharp eyes darting from left to forward, right, and behind for any leads. He had already asked almost all shopping stores lining the streets around the playgrounds, so who else to ask?

The residents. . .? _Nah, _Eiji thought, shaking his head. There were _way _too many of them here, that it would take him forever to get done with it. No one in his family knew her, too – he had even asked his father, who only blinked at him and laughed it off, claiming that his youngest boy was "already on _that _stage." Eiji had not understood what that meant, but it clearly didn't mean yes, so he disregarded the thought at the back of his head.

"_Where are you. . .?" _Eiji whispered. "_Why can't I find you – nya?" _He blinked several times as he stared before him. _"A teahouse?"_

Indeed, he hadn't realized that he had walked off to the direction of a dead end. Moreover, he didn't know that there existed a teahouse on that dead-end, since he hadn't been there before.

Eiji brightened up when he realized something.

"_I have searched everywhere," _he breathed, "_but not yet _here." Somehow, he got the feeling that he would find the answers in the teashop (but it was more like he _wanted_ to feel that way, so as not to let his hopes down). Hitching up the usual Eiji-like grin, he marched up the doorstep and pulled open the ancient-looking sliding door.

"_Konbanwa!" _he called around the brightly-lit – despite being a little old-fashioned – inside, frowning slightly when he realized that there was no one in sight. _"Is anybody here?"_

It was clear that the teahouse barely got any customers at all, but despite that fact, the place still looked neat and cozy. Low tables were scattered around randomly along the tatami floors, and the wooden walls were adorned with traditional Japanese paintings that Eiji found really boring. He scanned the vicinity again, waiting for someone to come up to him. But none came.

"_No one's here," _Eiji concluded, his shoulders slumping. He guessed he had to just come back tomorrow.

When he turned around, however, he was so shocked that he yelped to see a plump, stern-looking old woman standing _directly _behind him. "_A-Ah!" _Eiji fell on his bottom quite embarrassingly.

The old woman looked down at him for a moment, before saying, "_And what could my humble teahouse serve you, young boy?"_

Eiji hastily stood back up and tried to appear unembarrassed. "_Eto. . .I am looking for somebody who might live around here, nya. . .I was wondering if you know her?"_

The old woman stared at him one last time, then allowed herself into the teahouse, sliding the door shut behind her back. "_I might help you, kid. Who are you looking for?"_

Eiji brightened up. "_Really?!" _he said excitedly. "_Well, I'm looking for a girl. She's about this tall -" _He referred to his chin, as the top of her head only barely reached his chin, if he remembered correctly _"- she has brown hair, and she has dark green eyes!"_

The old woman looked at him pointedly. "_Dark green eyes?"_

Eiji nodded eagerly, failing to notice the hint of surprise in her voice. "_Yes!"_

There was a small pause, where they just looked back at each other. The woman gave her teahouse one sweeping look, as if she expected to find another person eavesdropping in their conversation, before she finally looked back at Eiji and spoke.

"_I guess it can't be helped, then." _She trudged to a counter and went behind it, and Eiji followed like an excited little puppy. He realized that she had gotten herself a paper and a pen, and had begun scribbling what looked like directions for Eiji to follow. _"Don't go at this time of the night, young boy," _she said, her eyes never leaving her had-drawn map. _"You can go tomorrow, instead."_

Eiji found the caution a little weird, but he still nodded, nevertheless. He eagerly got the paper as the woman handed it out to him. "_Yes, obaa-chan!"_

The old woman scrutinized him closely. Then, to Eiji's mild surprise, she sighed heavily, her stern face relaxing into a tired, tamed one. "_When you go there, ask the caretaker for Tsuchida Yukino. I believe you will find your friend there."_

Eiji nodded again. "_Thank you for your help, obaa-chan!"_

The old woman, this time, cracked a small smile. "_One more thing, little boy," _she said.

Eiji blinked at her next words.

"_You might want to bring flowers for Yukino-san. I'm very sure she would like it."_

-

_Sabihin mo na kung aayaw ka na_  
( Tell me if you don't want to anymore )

-

Eiji was more than eager to leave school the next day. He had already told his mother that he would go to a neighboring town that afternoon, and she just nodded, albeit a little confusedly. Eiji was not one to go out on weekdays, after all.

Eiji read the map that the old woman in the teashop made for him. All it would take is one bus ride and three-minute walk, and he would find himself in front of the girl's – Tsuchida Yukino, as the old woman named her – house. Following _obaa-chan's _little suggestion, he had also stopped by a flower shop and bought a stem of a yellow daisy for Yukino (he could remember the shop owner giving him a knowing look when he mentioned that it was for a girl). Now fully ready, he took a bus and sat in one of the middle seats, watching the busy streets outside, all the while thinking of an introduction in case Yukino's mother answered the door if he knocked.

The bus ride did not take long, and he hopped off happily, humming slightly as he now followed the map.

"_Turn to the right, and there!" _he exclaimed, almost running along the street.

When he stopped at what was supposed to be the X-mark on his map, however, he couldn't help but wonder if he misread the map. What was before him was not a house in any form.

"_Maybe obaa-chan made a mistake?" _Eiji scratched his cheek confusedly. But then, he remembered her words:

"_When you go there, ask the caretaker for Tsuchida Yukino. I believe you will find your friend there."_

So Eiji needed to find a caretaker, huh? He looked up at the gates again, and frowned heavily.

It was a _cemetery_.

Well, did this caretaker have to be the _cemetery _caretaker? Shrugging, Eiji entered the silent sanctuary, looking around for a maintenance man.

It did not take him long to find the caretaker, a man called Hino-san. He was at first surprised to see Eiji alone in the cemetery, but then smiled when Eiji said he wanted to find someone.

"_Her name is Tsuchida Yukino." _

Hino-san blinked at him for a moment, before he slowly asked, "_Are you a relative of hers, little boy?"_

Eiji shook his head. "_I'm her _tomodachi!"

"_That's so thoughtful of you to visit her, young man," _Hino-san said kindly, as he started leading Eiji to the direction of Yukino's whereabouts. Eiji found it weird that they were getting deeper into the cemetery, past tombs of various shapes and sizes. _"It was about time after all."_

"_Time for what?" _Eiji piped up blankly, and had almost tripped on his own foot when Hino-san suddenly stopped walking.

Hino-san smiled at him genuinely, before directing his gaze at the expensive-looking tomb that they had stopped in front of. "_It's almost her first anniversary, young boy."_

Eiji's brows formed a furrow on his forehead. "_What?" _Following the old man's gaze, his eyes rested on a picture frame placed on the tomb, and couldn't help but gasp in shock.

He hadn't even noticed it when his hand fell limp to his side, the stem of daisy he brought for her falling silently on the ground.

There, depicted in the picture frame, was the girl with the dark green eyes, her lips forming a small smile as she looked back at Eiji and Hino-san serenely.

"_Yukino-san died of leukemia." _Hino-san shook his head gravely, as Eiji continued staring at her tomb with wide, stricken eyes. _"How unfortunate for someone so young. . .you are of the same age, I believe, Eiji-kun?"_

Eiji's mouth was hanging open, and he just stared at the picture, unable to swallow the facts.

"_Eiji-kun?"_

Eiji snapped back to his senses, but his eyes were still disbelieving, shocked beyond wit.

" _Yukino-san. . ." _he murmured, his voice shaking slightly, _". . .she was always in the playgrounds. . ."_

"_Ahh. . ." _Hino-san smiled. "_You're most certainly right, Eiji-kun. She was often home-schooled because of her inborn deficiency, so her only way to interact with children like her is to stay all-day in playgrounds." _He distractedly looked at his watch. "_Ah, I'm afraid I need to attend to something, Eiji-kun. I'll be in the cabin if ever you need me."_

Eiji was left alone in front of Tsuchida Yukino's tomb, staring blankly back at those stationary dark green eyes.

Then, he chuckled loudly. _"You can't be dead. . ." _he found himself saying. _"Can you?"_

Yukino's solemn-looking smile didn't reply.

Eiji felt mad, because she still refused to speak. Weren't they friends? Why is she not explaining herself to him?! Didn't those meetings mean something for her, like how they meant something to Eiji? Wasn't Eiji. . .wasn't Eiji her special _tomodachi?_

"_Explain yourself!" _he commanded, like he had every right to do that to her, and like her photo would ever talk back to him. _"Why. . .how. . ." _Unable to express the questions reeling on his mind, he closed his mouth and glared at Tsuchida Yukino's photo.

But Eiji suddenly felt a pair of eyes boring at the back of his head, sending shivers down his spine and momentarily making him forget about anything else. He slowly looked behind him, hitching his breath and clenching his jaw shut.

He didn't know why, but he had not been surprised when his blue eyes connected to dark green ones at that moment. The girl – Yukino – was staring at him, a small smile (very much alike to the one in the picture) gracing her pale, almost purple, lips.

It was a moment before the oddity of the situation hit his head.

"_Wha – How -" _Eiji struggled to process what he was seeing, but his mind refused to take in what his eyes were showing it. It was impossible for the dead to come back alive!

"_I - "_

The girl observed his thunderstruck expression sadly, her mouth opening in an attempt to say something. But no sound came out, and, realizing she could not be heard, she lowered her gaze, her hands clenching into fists on either side of her, as if she had expected the very thing to happen.

Eiji finally was able to form a sentence. "_Y-You. . .what – what's happening to you?!" _He had noticed that the color was slowly draining from her whole being, as if she was beginning to dissipate into thin air.

She refused to look up.

"_O-Oi. . .! You are. . ." _Eiji willed himself to move. As he moved one step further, she looked up, and was surprised to see that his eyes had not reflected fear of her, as what she usually received.

They were imploring, questioning.

Eiji took another step, and another one, before he broke into a run towards her, almost stumbling in the process. There was something wrong with her, he thought frantically. There's something not right!

"_N-Ne -!" _he said worriedly, reaching out for her arm.

However, instead of gripping her pale, thin flesh, he had held empty air instead, his hand passing through where her arm was supposed to be. His eyes widened, slowly looking back up at the girl's eyes. "_Y-You're. . ."_

She looked back at him, her eyes solemn. She nodded slowly, knowing what Eiji would say.

_A ghost._

Eiji couldn't believe it, when the fact finally sunk in. As a young child, he had been an avid believer of the supernatural, but he had believed that they were, as the saying went, violent souls who sought for justice in their horrible deaths. He had not visualized ghosts to be prone to bullying, frail-looking, and to be nice-looking – moreover, to be someone who could be a friend. . .

This is not real!

"_You. . ." _he murmured, staring back at those dark green eyes that always mystified him. "_Why are you disappearing?"_

She just looked at him, surprised that he had asked such a question, instead of running away like what most kids his age would do in encountering a being like her.

Eiji came closer, so that they were almost nose to nose. "_Are you coming back?"_

He watched as her eyes, yet again, widened at his question. For the first time since he met her, her eyes brightened, not like the usual dull-looking dark green that they were. From the close proximity, Eiji had the chance to observe her more closely. Now that he looked at it intently, he noticed that she was translucent.

He was distracted, however, when her mouth opened and uttered something that he had not heard, despite the fact that they were standing toe to toe.

He shook his head. "_I-I can't hear you. . ."_

She stared at him bemusedly, before opening her mouth again, and this time, a small voice came out of it.

"Tomo. . .dachi_."_

Then, she smiled.

Eiji stared, as she began to fade, her features swimming in and out of view. "_W-Wait. . .!" _He panicked, as she continued to disappear. He attempted to grab her shoulder, but his hand only came through it. _"Wait. . .!"_

Her eyes continued observing him, the smile still plastered on her face.

"Tomodachi," she whispered.

Eiji paused as he heard her voice again. He stared at her barely visible face, and watched as her mouth formed two more words:

"_Thank you."_

And then, she disappeared completely, leaving Eiji staring at the space before him, eyes wide and sad.

_Tomodachi. . ._

-

_Para lang malaman ko_  
( Just so I know )

-

-

"Eiji?"

Eiji jerked out of his trance. He hadn't realized he had been staring for quite a time now. Looking away from the playgrounds, where he had been staring at for the last two minutes, he turned to his best friend and doubles partner, Oishi Syuichirou. "Ah, sorry Oishi. I just remembered something."

Oishi blinked. "What is it?"

Eiji thought for a moment, his brows creasing to create a furrow in his forehead. "Oishi, do you believe in ghosts?" he asked out of the blue.

"Eh?" Oishi stared at his doubles partner, as if wondering if the redhead wasn't feeling well. "Why are you suddenly asking, Eiji?"

"Because I met one a long time ago, nya!" Eiji said to him excitedly, as they resumed their walk towards their middle school, Seishun Gakuen. "She's not scary at all!"

"What?!" Oishi frowned heavily.

"Yes," Eiji continued. "She has dark green eyes, like you, Oishi! And she appeared before me while I visited her grave!"

His doubles partner continued gaping at him, before he decided to just laugh it off. "Alright."

Eiji pouted, as Oishi clearly didn't believe him. "It's true!"

"Okay, okay."

"Mou, Oishi!"

"I believe you, Eiji."

Eiji paused at that. "You do?" he asked, hopefully.

Of course Oishi did not believe him. Nevertheless, the _fukubuchou _of the boys' tennis club replied, "I do," like what a mother would say to her make-believing child.

Although deep inside he knew that the mother-hen was lying, Eiji didn't bother pushing the topic further. He fell silent, and quickly glanced back at the playgrounds, a wide smile on his face.

_It's your fifth death anniversary, ne?_

-

-

"Nya, this is _soooooo _boring!" Eiji rested the side of his face on his desk, trying to zone out the voice of the teacher in front. From beside him, Fuji chuckled softly.

"The class had just begun, Eiji," he said matter-of-factly.

"Even so!" the redhead replied. "Everything he says is boring -"

"Class, and I'd like to deliver some good news to you," Hirome-sensei said from in front, and, for the first time since that morning, successfully captured the whole of Senior Class 6's attention.

"Good news?" Eiji perked up, pulling his cheek away from the surface of his desk, listening attentively to the teacher and earning yet another chuckle from Fuji.

Hirome-sensei beamed widely at his homeroom class. "We have a new student!"

Murmurs filled the air as the students chattered among themselves excitedly.

"A new student, eh?" Eiji said to Fuji. "I hope I become friends with whoever it is!"

Hirome-sensei cleared his throat to gain back their attention. The whole class fell quiet at once, all looking eagerly at the direction of the open classroom door.

"Masahashi-san, if you please."

At the teacher's prompt, a girl entered the classroom, fully decked with the Seigaku uniform. All eyes followed her as she stopped beside Hirome-sensei, smiling widely. The din in the classroom began to intensify as the students commented on her appearance.

"Saa. . .she looks quite friendly, ne, Eiji?" Fuji said cheerfully, turning to the hyperactive redhead. However, seeing Eiji's facial expression made the tensai frown slightly. "Eiji?"

For Eiji had a shell-shocked expression on his face, his wide cerulean eyes fixed on the girl in front.

The girl bowed briefly, her long sandy-brown hair cascading at the sides of her face down on her shoulders. When she looked back up, her eyes, the color of dark green, crinkled as she broke into a friendly smile once more.

"My name is Masahashi Yukino. _Yoroshiku ne!_"

Her dark green eyes roamed around the classroom, until they caught a pair of eyes that almost bore a hole in her.

Eiji sat frozen in his seat, staring at her, his mouth hanging open. He felt his heart skip a beat when their eyes met – a clash between sea-blue and moss green.

Masahashi Yukino blinked at him.

Then, after what seemed like a long time, she smiled at Eiji.

"So, any questions you'd like to ask me?" she said to the class, though her eyes were still on him.

_. . .Tomodachi._

_­_-

-

**xx Fin.**

* * *

_This is my first one-shot, like I said before (I love to reiterate the fact, don't I?). And yeah, I surprised even myself with the ending. Seriously, this had to be one of the most _clichéd _love stories around. But what can we do, it's my style to use the most clichéd plot around. Hmm…maybe I should change my penname to _The Queen of Cliché, _or something (laughs). _

_So there, I hope you liked it. (And am I the only one here who adored Yukino's eyes?)_

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Romaji:

_neko – _cat

_Moshi-moshi? – _Hello? (when answering the phone)

_tomodachi – _friend

_Konbanwa – _Good evening.

_Yoroshiku! _– Nice meeting you!


End file.
